Sacrifice for Shikamaru
by BlondeNekoTwo-Tail
Summary: A mysterious kunoichi appears outside the gates of Konoha battered and bruised. When she comes to, she asks for a chance to leave her Sand village past behind, become a Leaf nin, and help in the retrieval of the long lost Sasuke. Will she find love in a c
1. Fool Fight

Disclaimer: I do not own Shikamaru or anything Naruto related (though I wish I did). The mystery nin however is my own creation, so I do own her.

Please have fun reading SFS and leave a comment or two for me. I love hearing from fellow writers and avid readers. This particular fic has been in progress for about a year or so. I had it on AFF until AFF went all screwy on me and decided to delete my entire account. I had 17 chapters up too! But over the last few months, I've been tweaking the old story until I found it good enough to post on This is my pride and joy, so please enjoy!

Chapter 1: Fool Fight

"Shikamaru! Behind you!" screamed Kiba as a sea of kunai went flying at Shikamaru. Shikamaru had just enough time to escape the deadly points of the weapons.

"There are a lot of enemies in the trees, but we've got 'em right Akamaru!" Akamaru barked in agreement as Kiba threw him a food pill, then ate one himself. Akamaru's fur turned bright red and stood on end. Kiba's fangs grew as he launched himself into the trees along with his canine companion. A few seconds later, screams of grown men echoed through the forest.

"Looks like he got them," Shikamaru said as he continued to form a strategy against their targeted betrayers. As he sat on a hidden branch in the forest canopy in his patented thinking position, a strange, low buzz hummed through the trees. Shikamaru opened one eye to scope the area around him. As soon as he did so, the noise stopped. He closed his eyes again, and the buzz came back. Again he opened his right eye, the noise dissipated. He slowly closed his eye again, and the buzz became louder and louder. Before he knew it, the things or creatures that were making the buzzing were right near him. He opened both his eyes and he found himself in a huge sea of flying insects. He opened his mouth to scream but had several of the winged bugs flying into his mouth, knocking him down from his hiding spot.

"DAMNIT SHINO! YOUR DAMN BUGS GOT INTO MY MOUTH AND RUINED MY CONCENTRATION!" shouted Shikamaru when he got out of the bushes he landed in and between spitting out bug parts.

"Sorry about that," Shino apologized as he directed his bugs towards the trees. "They smell the female I planted on the leader of the group. They go straight towards it".

"Wait, if that's true and they had to get through me to get to the leader, that means the leader is," he turned around in time to see a large, muscular ninja lunging towards him. Shikamaru had just enough time to leap out of the way and up into the trees to conceal himself once again.

"Come back out and play little ninja. I want to show you my toy," the leader teased as he pulled out a large katana from a sheath on his back.

"Sorry, but he can't come out and play, but my bugs would like to play with you," answered Shino as bugs emerged from his sleeves, and pant legs. The bugs swarmed at the leader and began to eat away at him. The leader screamed bloody murder as the bugs burrowed deeper into his flesh. At that moment, the leader's second-in-command came flying out of the trees behind Shino and kicked the bug master in the head, temporarily knocking him unconscious.

"Alright, no more play time, kiddies! Time for some real fighting!"

"I was hoping someone would say that!" growled Kiba, who lunged at him from behind and began to slash at the enemy's body with his sharp, lethal claws. Akamaru also came out of hiding, biting at the ninja's leg. Suddenly, the ninja turned into a log of wood, leaving a bad taste in Akamaru's mouth. "What the! Where did he go?" shouted Kiba as he sniffed at the air to find him.

"_They'll never_ _find me in time before I burn them alive with my fireball_ _jutsu_," the dangerous wanted ninja whispered to himself. "_Let me end this_ _now_". He eyed the dog ninja and the bug user slowly rising to his feet. Chuckling maniacally, he started his hand seals. Just before he could send his devastating jutsu barreling toward the unknowing shinobis below, his body froze. "What, what's going on? My body, I can't move it!"

"That's what happens when you don't watch out for the rest of the team your against," Shikamaru said as he jumped down from above his target. "You see, while Kiba kept you busy, I positioned myself to grab you with my shadow imitation jutsu. NOW SHINO! KIBA!" With those words, the other two ninjas launched themselves at their enemy. Shikamaru let go of his hold just in time to avoid feeling the pain along with the target. By the end, they captured the whole team and loaded them up to bring back to Konoha to face trial for treason, murder, and a number of other crimes.

"Well that was a work out, right Akamaru?" Kiba said.

"It was more troublesome than anything else. These cretins weren't worth my time," Shikamaru complained.

"And I'm sure you had somewhere else to be more important than on a mission for the Hokage," Shino shot at him. To Shikamaru, the missions just weren't worth it anymore. As much joy and excitement they used to be, they weren't worth it if he didn't have anyone to share his tales with while playing a game of Go.

"Lay off him, Shino. Remember, this is Shikamaru you're talking about here. Konoha's number 1 lazy ninja who forces himself off his ass to help his friends," Kiba teased and complimented somehow in the same sentence. He knew something was different about his team leader. Shika wasn't showing the slight sense of accomplishment or joy when he finished his missions anymore like he used to. Something was wrong, but he wasn't sure what.

"Hey guys, you know what I just realized?" Shino and Shikamaru turned towards Kiba with puzzled faces (well, at least Shikamaru)."Today is the reunion of all of us at the Konoha sake bar!" With those words, Shikamaru perked up a bit. "Let's hurry and drop these fools off then go meet up with everyone else. The three hastened towards home in good spirits with their load floating behind them riding on Shino's bug troop. Suddenly, Akamaru stopped and sniffed the air. He let out a bark, and bounded towards a group of bushes a few meters away.

"What's wrong, Akamaru? Smell something boy?" asked Kiba as he ran off towards his partner. Akamaru sniffed again at the bushes and began to growl and bare his teeth. Kiba pulled out a shuriken, and slowly parted the bushes with his free hand. The other two stood back, kunai in hand and ready to fly. Kiba signaled with his a wink and let out a battle roar as he got ready to throw his shuriken with deadly accuracy at whomever or whatever was hiding in the bush. Then, as his arm was wound all the way back, he was practically blinded by the lightning speed of a nest full of birds that came flying out of their cozy nests in the bush.

"Hahahahaha! That was great Mr. All-Powerful Hunter! Hahahahaha!" Shikamaru laughed as Shino calmly put away his kunai and walked back to the prisoners, directing his bugs to keep going.

"Shut up. C'mon Akamaru," ordered Kiba. Akamaru huffed as he walked beside his owner. As the members of the dog clan caught up with their team mates, a few pairs of eyes watched every step they took.


	2. Mystery Nin

Chapter 2: Mystery Nin

The triumphant group finally arrived home at the Konoha village after the long trek with their bounty. Again Akamaru smelt something off to their right. He bounded off once again, but Kiba simply rolled his eyes at his pup.

"His nose must be exhausted after finding these punks," nodding his head towards the betrayers being held in the buzzing bug prison, "so his nose is going haywire. I'll make sure he relaxes the rest of the day when we get back". He began to tread after his companion into the brush, "Come on, Akamaru, you can stop tracking things now. There's nothing out, he…." Kiba suddenly stopped, his eyes widened and his teeth clenched. In the bushes he found Akamaru, biting at hand of a body that was dressed in a black robe, face down in the dirt. "Shino! Shikamaru! Quick! There's a body over here!"

The others came charging into the brush, full speed to see what Akamaru had stumbled upon. There, just like Kiba had reported, laid the body of a person, mangled and soaked in blood. Kiba rolled the body over, revealing the face of a young woman. He propped her up on his arm, and her hood fell off, revealing long blond hair, a cute face, and a few cuts.

"How troublesome. A body of a…." suddenly Shikamaru stopped complaining once he took one look at the woman. His eyes widened. "_How cute_", he thought, "_even with all that blood on her face_…".

"We should get her back to the hospital. She looks pretty banged up," calmly suggested Shino in his nonchalant manner. Shikamaru and Kiba nodded in agreement, but Kiba sensed something was wrong. His nose smelt a trap, but couldn't take the chance of leaving a defenseless and hurt girl in the woods. He picked her up and the three entered the gate into Konoha


	3. Wake Up Call

Chapter 3: Wake Up Call

As Shino escorted the prisoners to the Hokage and awaiting jounin, Shikamaru and Kiba waited outside the mystery woman's hospital room. Shikamaru thought back for a second to a few moments ago when they first found her lying unconscious on the ground. Though she was bloody and bruised, he thought she was quite cute. Her face was very shapely and her long hair very soft looking. He finally snapped out of the flashback when Kiba began to speak to him.

"I wonder how she got here. She was so mangled. Do you think she's a spy who was ambushed by the Konoha ANBU?" he asked Shikamaru, slightly growling toward the door.

"I don't know. But I know one thing; we have to find out who she is, and why she was a mess. And also why she ended up outside the village," Shikamaru answered.

"True. I'm still a little iffy on her though. I smelt a trap when we were near her, but I can't quite figure it out. The hair on the back of my neck stood on end. I feel like there's something wrong…." Just then the door to her room opened and a nurse walked out.

"You two may see her now. She should be waking up very soon," she smiled.

"Is she hurt badly?" asked Shikamaru.

The nurse politely smiled again. "Well, she has a few bad cuts and some open wounds that look like they're from kunai, or other sharp weapons. She has a really bad cut on her forehead. Looks like it was from a blunt attack. The wounds had some sand in them, so we had quite a time cleaning them out". Kiba and Shikamaru started to head in, but the nurse stopped them. "There's something you two should know before you go in there". She paused. "She's not from Konoha, as you've more than likely already noticed. She's from the Sand village". Shikamaru and Kiba froze in their tracks and their ears pricked. A ninja from the Sand outside Konoha battered and bruised? There was something wrong about that. "You can go and see her, just don't throw her on trial right away. She's dehydrated and needs to rest for awhile. She won't be able to handle rough interrogation from two strong, handsome jounin like yourselves". The nurse smiled again, bowed slightly, and entered a door down the hallway.

The two walked in and each sat down on either side of the Sand girl's bed, thinking about the information they just heard. Shikamaru spotted her head protector on the end table next to her bed. He flicked it with his finger, making it ping loudly.

"I wish she'd wake up already. I want to know what she wants, and what happened to her," Kiba growled. Akamaru barked.

"We'll find out everything we need to know when she wakes up," Shikamaru said in an annoyed tone. He looked at her lying in the hospital bed and noticed her choker. It had a small cat charm on it and looked as if it had never been taken off. It seemed almost embedded in her skin. He was mesmerized by the two small sapphires in the cat's eyes.

At that moment, a small moan escaped the throat of the patient. She stirred a bit and her eyes began to open. Kiba and Shikamaru both looked on attentively. "_Her eyes_," Shikamaru thought. The ninja's eyes opened up, revealing bright blue eyes, identical to the cat eyes around her neck. Kiba, Akamaru and Shikamaru all looked down at her as she came into consciousness. The mystery nin put her hand on the bandage on her forehead, then looked up at the strangers staring down at her. She shot up out of bed and stood on the mattress, getting into a low stance.

"Who are you? Where am I!" she yelled as she reached around her back looking for something. She gasped, "My pouch!" She grabbed Kiba by the collar of his jacket, "WHAT DID YOU DO WITH MY POUCH!" Suddenly, she stopped yelling and her grip immediately loosened. Her eyes rolled back and she fell over and off the bed towards Shikamaru. Shikamaru caught her just before she landed on the floor.

"Well she's a lively one," said Kiba fixing his collar and giving a look of excitement.

"Troublesome too," Shikamaru huffed as he put her back in her bed. As she laid there in her hospital robe, Shikamaru couldn't help but notice how much energy she had suddenly at the sight of them, and how she immediately wanted to protect herself. "She seems like another Naruto, always rushing into fights before thinking". He sighed. "Just our luck". But Shikamaru wanted her to awaken again, as troublesome as she seemed. He needed information from her, why she was there, who she was, why she was beaten as badly as she was. He needed to know.


	4. Interrogations Begin

Chapter 4: Interrogations Begin

"Who the fuck are you? What do you want from me?" the female ninja demanded from the Konoha ninjas around her bed. "And why'd you have to tie me up like this! I haven't done anything!"

"Yet," said a masked ANBU of Konoha emerging from the shadows. "Just answer our questions first, then we'll answer yours. Who are you?"

The mystery ninja stopped kicking, sighed, then answered the question. "My name is Hoshiko. I'm from the Hidden Village of the Sand, but I assume you know that being how feather duster head over there is holding my head protector," she chided as Shikamaru sneered at her angrily.

"Feh," Shikamaru responded as he turned away. Hoshiko smirked as the interrogation proceeded.

"Why were you outside our gates so badly hurt?" asked the ANBU.

"What's the matter? Can't figure that out? Figures, all you Konoha are the same. Completely clueless and totally useless". She could see the ninjas' patience were wearing thin, and being outnumbered and injured, she decided not to start a fight. "Well, since you can't figure it out, I was trying to get here, but I was stopped by some bandits not too far from here. I tried to fight them off, but they were," she paused and looked down at the floor next to her bed, "too strong".

"Did you see their faces?"

"Yes, I did as a matter of fact. There were three of them. Two men and a woman. The one man had short, red hair, and black around his eyes". She shuttered. "His eyes were a piercing blue that chilled me to the bone. The other male had paint on his face, and was armed with puppets. The woman had a large fan, and had her hair tied up into buns with the rest down".

Shikamaru's hair on the back of his neck stood on end. "_Gaara, Konkuro and_ _Temari? What did they want?_"

"They tore me to bits, but I had enough energy to escape and crawl to the gates. Just before I passed out, I heard them approaching, so I hid in the bushes. A watchman was close by, so they took to the trees and vanished. The last I saw of them was their backs".

"Those were no bandits," Kiba said with a hitch in his voice, "those ninja were Gaara and his gang! I thought they were on our side!"

"Yea, but remember when I turned down Temari? She just snapped. Started cursing and got real out of hand," Shikamaru reminded him.

"Oh yea, and she got band from the village for completely demolishing the place you two were at," chuckled Kiba.

"Laugh all you want, but now she's gone PMS overload again. And Konkuro just tags along 'cuz he likes her. But Gaara. I thought he had changed for the better. I wonder what happened there".

"Well, they didn't want me to get here alive for some reason, so they decided to attack me and beat me within an inch of my life," the injured blond replied.

"What'd you do to piss them off so bad? Try to make sandcastles out of Gaara's mom?" Kiba said out of the side of his mouth. Suddenly he was yanked forward by Hoshiko who had grabbed him by the collar of his jacket.

"What was that, Konoha dog boy!" Hoshiko growled. She had used a basic escape jutsu to break free of the ropes they tied her with. "_Amazing how_ _she was just beaten by Gaara and the others and can still use a jutsu_," Shikamaru thought.

"Who you callin' dog boy, blondie!" Kiba retorted. Akamaru yipped as the argument escalated. Shikamaru rolled his eyes and sighed.

"_How troublesome_," he thought. "_All I'm going to hear for the next few days_ _is them bickering_. _But at least_…" his eyes glanced over at Hoshiko, "_she's nicer_ _on the eyes than Temari was_". A sudden breeze caught Shikamaru's attention. He turned completely toward Kiba and Hoshiko who had suddenly stopped fighting. They were now being held back by the ANBU.

"If the two of you don't settle down," they found themselves with kunai to their throats, "then I'll slice out your vocal chords. Understand?" The two nodded and the ANBU dropped Kiba into his seat and Hoshiko back onto the bed. "Now, Hoshiko, why were you trying to get here in the first place?"

Hoshiko focused her eyes downward. "Well, if you all must know, I was coming here to ask……. if I can…….become a Konoha ninja". Everyone looked at her in disbelief.

"Weren't you just bashing us a few minutes ago? What? You change your mind all of a sudden!" Kiba exclaimed, confused.

"Shut up, dog boy!"

"Don't call me dog boy!" Kiba screamed lifting a fist in her direction with a vein bulging in his forehead.

"Kiba, let her finish," Shikamaru said calmly.

"Thank you, at least someone here has some manners," Hoshiko said, leaving Kiba in a huff. "The main reason I left is because I had nothing to leave in the Sand village. My clan is gone. My life was full of nothingness there, and I was hoping that, as a Leaf ninja, I might lead a more fulfilling one". The boys in the room were left speechless. Then Shikamaru noticed something.

"Wait, if you're from the Sand village, how did you not notice that the people that attacked you were Temari, Konkuro and Gaara? Gaara is kazekage after all".

"True, but that doesn't mean I've ever seen any of them," Hoshiko said with a slight attitude. Everyone's attention was averted to the room door opening and the nurse walking in.

"Alright boys, this brave little ninja needs to get her check-up and to get some rest. C'mon, everyone scoot," the nurse turned to the ANBU. "I trust you got all the information you needed, so I'll have to ask you to leave as well". The ANBU nodded and vanished. As Kiba and Shikamaru left to meet up with Shino, Hoshiko stopped them before they could leave.

"I guess I should say thank you, so thanks for saving me," she said face blushing.

"Yea, you should be thanking us! We saved your ass!" Kiba shouted. Hoshiko bit her lip to keep from yelling back and starting another fight. Her body was beginning to hurt from the last arguement. Before Kiba could continue his you-owe-us speech, Shikamaru pushed him out of the room and turned back to Hoshiko.

"You're welcome, just try not to be so troublesome". Hoshiko tilted her head and smirked in amusement as Shikamaru left the room.


	5. Free At Last!

Chapter 5: Free at last!

After that first exciting day in the hospital, Shikamaru, Kiba and Shino were all assigned to protect Hoshiko in case the Sand trio got gutsy enough to attack her in the village.

"I can't believe we're babysitting this brat!" Kiba shouted angrily as he sat in a chair across the room from Hoshiko and the others. "This has got to be the worst mission EVER!"

"Would you shut up?" Shikamaru said with an annoyed tone of voice. "She's sleeping, you troublesome moron".

"What was that, lazy boy! Don't make me rip your tongue out with my claws! I'll sick Akamaru on you, I swear!" Akamaru whined in response to his friend's rant. Shikamaru simply rolled his eyes and ignored Kiba as he stormed out of the room. He turned back to the game of Shougi he was playing with Shino.

"Shino, what's the word on the reunion?" Shikamaru asked as he made his move on the board.

"They all agreed to have it changed to next week until Hoshiko's out of the hospital and healed up. They're quite anxious to meet her". Shino moved one of his pieces to counter Shikamaru's move.

"Good. I was looking forward to seeing Chouji. I would've been really disappointed if we missed meeting up again," Shikamaru said with saddened eyes. The past few years had been rough. Either Shikamaru or Chouji had important missions on the day of the reunion and could not afford to go. Shikamaru missed his old friend and partner. Hopefully he would be there this year.

As Shikamaru made his finishing move on the board, Hoshiko stirred a bit and opened her eyes. She sat up and yawned as she stretched out.

"How are you feeling?" Shino asked Hoshiko while he reset his pieces.

"I'm doing quite well today actually. I feel 100 percent!" She looked down at the Shougi board and her eyes lit up like a kid's in a candy store. "Is that Shougi? Can I play the winner?"

"You mean can you play against me when I'm done finishing off Shino?" Shikamaru chuckled once while Shino merely furrowed his brows and pushed up his glasses. Hoshiko grinned. "I didn't even know you liked Shougi".

"I do. I'm actually quite good," she answered.

"Is that a challenge?" Shikamaru sized her up with the corner of his eye.

"You're damn straight it is, feather duster," Hoshiko shot back, ruffling Shikamaru's trademark hairdo. Shino huffed in amusement. Shikamaru was about to muss up Hoshiko's hair when the nurse walked into the room.

"Sorry to ruin your fun, but I'll need a few minutes with her to do her routine check-up. I'm going to put up this temporary changing wall so I can check all her wounds," the nurse explained. With two nods, Shino and Shikamaru backed away and began to head for the door. Just then, Shikamaru remembered he had to ask Hoshiko if she would go to the reunion. He turned around to ask, but saw nothing but wall, and silhouettes.

His eyes bulged. He tried his best to turn away, but couldn't help but look. The sunlight coming in from the windows made perfect outlines of Hoshiko and the nurse. His jaw dropped as he watched Hoshiko's outline take off her hospital gown. He eyed the curves of her shadow, and couldn't help but utter a small groan.

"_Her body_," he thought to himself, "_she's so beau_………"he shook his head back and forth and smacked himself. "_What am I thinking! I don't even know who she is! She must be using some sort of bewitching jutsu on me to get me so worked up. I should get going before….._"

Just as he turned, Shino's half-covered face was right in his. "I don't think you were supposed to be here anymore, Shikamaru," Shino stated. "The rules say no boys allowed when a girl is changing".

"I…I know. I was just making sure the room was secure before I left," Shikamaru tried to cover his pervy actions. He walked outside the room, scratching the back of his head. Shino suddenly appeared right in front of him.

"Sure you were," Shino moved closer to Shika's face, "and I'm really a little girl". Just then, Kiba walked around the corner, his hands in his pockets, eyes on the ground and Akamaru on his head.

"How's the brat?" he asked, not making eye contact with either of his partners.

"She's getting a check up," Shikamaru answered, "she should be done soon too. They were just checking her wounds. If she looks okay, they're going to let her out of the hospital".

"Awesome! Then we don't have to watch her ass anymore and we can get back to chasing dangerous criminals!" Kiba shouted excitedly. Akamaru barked as Kiba danced for joy at losing the access baggage known as Hoshiko.

As Kiba started doing a jig, the hospital room door swung open, smacking him in the face. The nurse came out with a big smile and reported that Hoshiko made a full recovery and could leave the hospital, no questions asked. Following the nurse was Hoshiko herself, now dressed in her ninja attire. The outfit was quite revealing, complete with a bright green Tsunadae style low-cut shirt, a black skirt with slits up the sides, revealing her bandage-wrapped right calf and fishnet around her left thigh complete with a garter strap going up under her skirt. The look was completed with black ninja sandals, along with her pouch around her left thigh full of shuriken and kunai and her Sand village forehead protector wrapped around her right leg. Her hair was up in a tight bun with some of the extra hair fanned out above it. It was quite an eye-catcher, even for Kiba, who was now fighting to untangle himself from the window blinds of death his was ensnared in.

"Ready to leave, guys?" Hoshiko asked the ninjas who were seemingly drooling at the sight of her curvy legs and impressive cleavage.

"Actually, I'd like you all to come with us," a raspy voice from behind them said. They all turned, including Kiba who had finally found his way out of the blinds, and set their eyes on the ANBU officer from earlier in the week, accompanied by several more ANBU. "The Hokage would like to speak to the Sand visitor".


End file.
